The discovery of a traditional Welsh blanket in the palace of the former ruler of Yemen took Patricia Aithie on a fascinating journey of discovery. In the Yemeni seaman of the steam age, she finds a surprising link between her hometown of Cardiff, once the world’s biggest coal-exporting port, and Aden, where the coal which fuelled the Empire was bunkered. On her journey, Aithie discovers an ancient and until recently hidden Arab country a world away from industrial south Wales. From Cardiff’s Yemeni community, she travels to remote mountain passes, deserts, ports and the ancient cities of southern Arabia, encountering former seamen and isolated communities in which stories of Cardiff loom large. This is a remarkable and timely account of the way in which two cultures unexpectedly touch one another.